Part 2

The vegetable portion of the food is unimportant, and consists mainly of a few seeds, with small fruits, such as wild cherries, elder berries, and juniper berries. The raspberries and blackberries found in the stomachs were the only fruits that might have banged to cultivated varieties, and the quantity was trifling.

There is hardly a more useful species than the phœbe about the farm, and it should receive every encouragement. To furnish nesting boxes is unnecessary, as it usually prefers a more open situation, like a shed, or a nook under the eaves, but it should be protected from cats and other marauders.

THE BLUE JAY.

(_Cyanocitta cristata._)

The blue jay (fig. 8) is a common bird of the United States east of the Great Plains, and remains throughout the year in most of its range, although its numbers are somewhat reduced in winter in the Northern States. During spring and summer the jay is forced to become an industrious hunter for insects, and is not so conspicuous a feature of the landscape as when it roams the country at will after the cares of the nesting season are over.

Ornithologists and field observers in general declare that a considerable portion of its food in spring and early summer consists of the eggs and young of small birds, and some farmers accuse it of stealing corn to an injurious extent in the fall. While there may be some truth in these accusations, they have almost certainly been exaggerated. No doubt many jays have been observed robbing nests of other birds, but thousands have been seen that were not so engaged.

In an investigation of the food of the blue jay 292 stomachs were examined, which showed that animal matter comprised 24 per cent and vegetable matter 70 per cent of the bird's diet. So much has been said about the nest robbing habits of the jay that special search was made for traces of birds or birds' eggs in the stomachs, with the result that shells of small birds' eggs were found in three and the remains of young birds in only two stomachs. Such negative evidence is not sufficient to controvert the great mass of testimony upon this point, but it shows that the habit is not so prevalent as has been believed. Besides birds and their eggs, the jay eats mice, fish, salamanders, snails, and crustaceans, which altogether constitute but little more than 1 per cent of its diet. The insect food is made up of beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and a few species of other orders, all noxious, except some 3½ per cent of predaceous beetles. Thus something more than 19 per cent of the whole food consists of harmful insects. In August the jay, like many other birds, turns its attention to grasshoppers, which constitute nearly one-fifth of its food during that month. At this time, also, most of the other noxious insects, including caterpillars, are consumed, though beetles are eaten chiefly in spring.

The vegetable food is quite varied, but the item of most interest is grain. Corn was found in 70 stomachs, wheat in 8, and oats in 2--all constituting 19 per cent of the total food. Corn is evidently the favorite grain, but a closer inspection of the record shows that the greater part was eaten during the first five months of the year, and that very little was taken after May, even in harvest time, when it is abundant. This indicates that most of the corn is gleaned from the fields after harvest, except what is stolen from cribs or gathered in May at planting time.

The jay's favorite food is mast (i. e., acorns, chestnuts, chinquapins, etc.), which was found in 158 of the 292 stomachs and amounted to more than 42 per cent of the whole food. In September corn formed 15 and mast 35 per cent, while in October, November, and December corn dropped to an almost inappreciable quantity and mast amounted to 64, 82, and 83 per cent, respectively. And yet in these months corn is abundant and everywhere easily accessible. The other elements of food consist of a few seeds and wild fruits, among which grapes and blackberries predominate.

The results of the stomach examination show, (1) that the jay eats many noxious insects; (2) that its habit of robbing the nests of other birds is much less common, than has been asserted; and (3) that it does little harm to agriculture, since all but a small amount of the corn eaten is waste grain.

THE CROW.

(_Corvus americanus._)

There are few birds so well known as the common crow, and unlike most other species he does not seem to decrease in numbers as the country becomes more densely populated. The crow is commonly regarded as a blackleg and a thief. Without the dash and brilliancy of the jay, or the bold savagery of the hawk, he is accused of doing more mischief than either. That he does pull up sprouting corn, destroy chickens, and rob the nests of small birds has been repeatedly proved. Nor are these all of his sins. He is known to eat frogs, toads, salamanders, and some small snakes, all harmless creatures that do some good by eating insects. With so many charges against him, it may be well to show why he should not be utterly condemned.

The examination of a large number of stomachs, while confirming all the foregoing accusations, has thrown upon the subject a light somewhat different from that derived slowly from field observation. It shows that the bird's nesting habit, as in the case of the jay, is not so universal as has been supposed; and that, so far from being a habitual nest robber, the crow only occasionally indulges in that reprehensible practice. The same is true in regard to destroying chickens, for he is able to carry off none but very young ones, and his opportunities for capturing them are somewhat limited. Neither are many toads and frogs eaten, and as frogs are of no great practical value, their destruction is not a serious matter; but toads are very useful, and their consumption, so far as it goes, must be counted against crow. Turtles, crayfishes, and snails, of which he eats quite a large number, may be considered neutral, while mice may be counted to his credit.

In his insect food, however, the crow makes amends for sins in the rest of his dietary, although even here the first item is against him. Predaceous beetles are eaten in some numbers throughout the season, but the number is not great. May beetles, "dor-bugs," or June bugs, and others of the same family, constitute the principal food during spring and early summer, and are fed to the young in immense quantities. Other beetles, nearly all of a noxious character, are eaten to a considerable extent. Grasshoppers are first taken in May, but not in large numbers until August, when, as might be expected, they form the leading article of diet, showing that the crow is no exception to the general rule that most birds subsist, to a large extent, upon grasshoppers in the month of August. Many bugs, some caterpillars, mostly cutworms, and some spiders are also eaten--all of them either harmful or neutral in their economic relations. Of the insect diet Mr. E. A. Schwarz says: "The facts, on the whole, speak overwhelmingly in favor of the crow."

Probably the most important item in the vegetable food is corn, and by pulling up the newly sprouted seeds the bird renders himself extremely obnoxious. Observation and experiments with tame crows show that hard, dry corn is never eaten if anything else is to be had, and if fed to nestlings it is soon disgorged. The reason crows resort to newly planted fields is that the kernels of corn are softened by the moisture of the earth, and probably become more palatable in the process of germination, which changes the starch of the grain to sugar. The fact, however, remains that crows eat corn extensively only when it has been softened by germination or partial decay, or before it is ripe and still "in the milk." Experience has shown that they may be prevented from pulling up young corn by tarring the seed, which not only saves corn but forces them to turn their attention to insects. If they persist in eating green corn it is not so easy to prevent the damage; but no details of extensive injury in this way have yet been presented and it is probable that no great harm has been done.

Crows eat fruit to some extent, but confine themselves for the most part to wild species, such as dogwood, sour gum, and seeds of the different kinds of sumac. They have also a habit of sampling almost everything which appears eatable, especially when food is scarce. For example, they eat frozen apples found on the trees in winter, or pumpkins, turnips, and potatoes which have been overlooked or neglected; even mushrooms are sometimes taken, probably in default of something better.

In estimating the economic status of the crow, it must be acknowledged that he does some damage, but, on the other hand, he should receive much credit for the insects which he destroys. In the more thickly settled parts of the country the crow probably does more good than harm, at least when ordinary precautions are taken to protect young poultry and newly-planted corn against his depredations. If, however, corn is planted with no provision against possible marauders, if hens and turkeys are allowed to nest and to roam with their broods at a distance from farm buildings, losses must be expected.

THE BOBOLINK, OR RICEBIRD.

(_Dolichconyx oryzivorus_)

The bobolink (fig. 9) is a common summer resident of the United States, north of about latitude 40°, and from New England westward to the Great Plains, wintering beyond our southern border. In New England there are few birds, if any, around which so much romance has clustered; in the South none on whose head so many maledictions have been heaped. The bobolink, entering the United States from the South at a time when the rice fields are freshly sown, pulls up the young plants and feeds upon the seed. Its stay, however, is not long, and it soon hastens northward, where it is welcomed as a herald of summer. During its sojourn in the Northern States it feeds mainly upon insects and small seeds of useless plants; but while rearing its young, insects constitute its chief food, and almost the exclusive diet of its brood. After the young are able to fly, the whole family gathers into a small flock and begins to live almost entirely upon vegetable food. This consists for the most part of weed seeds, since in the North these birds do not appear to molest grain to any great extent. They eat a few oats, but their stomachs do not reveal a great quantity of this or any other grain. As the season advances they gather into larger flocks and move southward, until by the end of August nearly all have left their breeding grounds. On their way they frequent the reedy marshes about the mouths of rivers and on the inland waters of the coast region, subsisting largely upon wild rice. After leaving the Northern States they are commonly known as reed birds, and having become very fat are treated as game.

They begin to arrive on the rice fields in the latter part of August, and during the next month make havoc in the ripening crop. It is unfortunate that the rice districts lie exactly in the track of their fall migration, since the abundant supply of food thus offered has undoubtedly served to attract them more and more, until most of the bobolinks bred in the North are concentrated with disastrous effect on the south east coast when the rice ripens in the fall, there was evidently a time when no such supply of food awaited the birds on their journey southward, and it seems probable that the introduction of rice culture in the South, combined with the clearing of the forests in the North, thus affording a larger available breeding area, has favored an increase in the numbers of this species. The food habits of the bobolink are not necessarily easily inimical to the interests of agriculture. It simply happens that the rice affords a supply of food more easily obtainable than did the wild plants which formerly occupied the same region. Were the rice fields at a distance from the line of migration, or north of the bobolinks' breeding ground, they would probably never be molested; but lying, as they do, directly in the path of migration, they form a recruiting ground, where the birds can rest and accumulate flesh and strength for the long sea flight which awaits them in their course to South America.

The annual loss to rice growers on account of bobolinks has been estimated at $2,000,000. In the face of such losses it is evident that no mere poetical sentiment should stand in the way of applying any remedy which can be devised. It would be unsafe to assume that the insects which the birds consume during their residence in the North can compensate for such destruction. If these figures are any approximation to the truth, the ordinary farmer will not believe that the bobolink benefits, the Northern half of the country nearly as much as it damages the Southern half, and the thoughtful ornithologist will be inclined to agree with him. But even if the bird really does more harm than good, what is the remedy! For years the rice planters have been employing men and boys to shoot the birds and drive them away from the fields, but in spite of the millions slain every year their numbers do not decrease. In fact, a large part of the loss sustained is not in the grain which the birds actually eat, but in the outlay necessary to prevent them from taking it all. At present there seems to be no effective remedy short of complete extermination of the species, and this is evidently impracticable even were it desirable.

THE REDWINGED BLACKBIRD.

(_Agelaius phœniceus._)

The redwinged, or swamp, blackbird (fig. 10) is found all over the United States and the region immediately to the north. While common in most of its range, its distribution is more or less local, mainly on account of its partiality for swamps. Its nest is built near standing water, in tall grass, rushes, or bushes. Owing to this peculiarity the bird may be absent from large tracts of country which afford no swamps or marshes suitable for nesting. It usually breeds in large colonies, though single families, consisting of a male with several wives, may sometimes be found in a small slough, where each of the females builds, her nest and rears her own little brood, while her liege lord displays his brilliant colors and struts in the sunshine. In the Upper Mississippi Valley it finds the conditions most favorable, for the countless prairie sloughs and the margins of the numerous shallow lakes form nesting sites for thousands of redwings; and there are bred the immense flocks which sometimes do so much damage to the grain fields of the West. After the breeding season is over, the birds collect in flocks to migrate, and remain thus associated throughout the winter.

Many complaints have been made against the redwing, and several States have at times placed a bounty upon its head. It is said to cause great damage to grain in the West, especially in the Upper Mississippi Valley; and the rice growers of the South say that it eats rice. No complaints have been received from the Northeastern portion of the country, where the bird is much less abundant than in the West and South.

An examination of 725 stomachs showed that vegetable matter forms 74 per cent of the food, while the animal matter, mainly insects, forms but 26 per cent. A little more than 10 per cent consists of beetles, mostly harmful species, Weevils, or snout-beetles, amount to 4 per cent of the year's food, but in June reach 25 per cent. As weevils are among the most harmful insects known, their destruction should condone for at least some of the sins of which the bird has been accused. Grasshoppers constitute nearly 5 per cent of the food, while the rest of the animal matter is made up of various insects, a few snails, and crustaceans. Several dragon flies were found, but these were probably picked up dead, for they are too active to be taken alive, unless by one of the flycatchers. So far as the insect food as a whole is concerned, the redwing may be considered entirely beneficial.

The interest in the vegetable food of this bird centers around the grain. Only three kinds, corn, wheat, and oats, were found in appreciable quantities in the stomachs, and they aggregate but little more than 13 per cent of the whole food, oats forming nearly half of this amount. In view of the many complaints that the redwing eats grain, this record is surprisingly small. The crow blackbird has been found to eat more than three times as much. In the case of the crow, corn forms one-fifth of the food, so that the redwinged blackbird, whose diet is made up of only a trifle more than one-eighth of grain, is really one of the least destructive species; but the most important item of this bird's food is weed seed, which forms practically the whole food in winter and about 57 per cent of the whole year's fare. The principal weed seeds eaten are those of ragweed, barn grass, smartweed, and about a dozen others. That these seeds are preferred is shown by the fact that the birds begin to eat them in August, when grain is still readily accessible, and continue feeding on them even after insects become plentiful in April. The redwing eats very little fruit and does practically no harm in the garden or orchard.

While it is impossible to dispute the mass of testimony which has accumulated concerning its grain-eating propensity, the stomach examinations show that the habit must be local rather than general. As the area of cultivation increases and the breeding grounds are curtailed, the species is likely to become reduced in numbers and consequently less harmful. Nearly seven-eighths of the redwing's food is made up of weed seed or of insects injurious to agriculture, indicating unmistakably that the bird should be protected, except, perhaps, in a few places where it is too abundant.

THE MEADOW LARK, OR OLD FIELD LARK.

(_Sturnella magna._)

The meadow lark (fig. 11) is a common and well-known bird occurring from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Plains, where it gives way to a closely related subspecies, which extends thence westward to the Pacific. It winters from our southern border as far north as the District of Columbia, southern Illinois, and occasionally Iowa. Although it is a bird of the plains, finding its most congenial haunts in the prairies of the West, it does not disdain the meadows and mowing lands of New England. It nests on the ground and is so terrestrial in its habits that it seldom perches on trees, preferring a fence rail or a telegraph pole. When undisturbed, it may be seen walking about with a peculiar dainty step, stopping every few moments to look about and give its tail a nervous flirt or to sound a note or two of its clear whistle.

The meadow lark is almost wholly beneficial, although a few complaints have been made that it pulls sprouting grain, and one farmer claims that it eats clover seed. As a rule, however, it is looked upon with favor and is not disturbed.

In the 238 stomachs examined, animal food (practically all insects) constituted 73 per cent of the contents and vegetable matter 27 per cent. As would naturally be supposed, the insects were ground species, such as beetles, bugs, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, with a few flies, wasps, and spiders. A number of the stomachs were taken from birds that had been killed when the ground was covered with snow, but still they contained a large percentage of insects, showing the bird's skill in finding proper food under adverse circumstances.

Of the various insects eaten, crickets and grasshoppers are the most important, constituting 29 per cent of the entire year's food and 69 per cent of the food in August. It is scarcely necessary to enlarge upon this point, but it can readily be seen what an effect a number of these birds must have on a field of grass in the height of the grasshopper season. Of the 238 stomachs collected at all seasons of the year, 178, or more than two-thirds, contained remains of grasshoppers, and one was filled with fragments at 37 of those insects. This seems to show conclusively that grasshoppers are preferred and are eaten whenever they can be procured. The great number taken in August is especially noticeable. This is essentially the grasshopper month, i. e., the month when grasshoppers reach their maximum abundance; and the stomach examination has shown that a large number of birds resort to this diet in August, no matter what may be the food during the rest of the year.

Next to grasshoppers, beetles make up the most important item of the meadow lark's food, amounting to nearly 21 per cent, of which about one-third are predaceous ground beetles. The others are all harmful species, and when it is considered that the bird feeds exclusively on the ground, it seems remarkable that so few useful ground beetles are eaten. Many of them have a disgusting odor, and possibly this may occasionally save them from destruction by birds, especially when other food is abundant. Caterpillars, too, form a very constant element, and in May constitute over 28 per cent of the whole food. May is the month when the dreaded cutworm begins its deadly career, and then the bird does some of its best work. Most of these caterpillars are ground feeders, and are overlooked by birds which habitually frequent trees; but the meadow lark finds them and devours them by thousands. The remainder of the insect food is made up of a few ants, wasps, and spiders, with a few bugs, including some cinch bugs.

The vegetable food consists of grain, weed, and other hard seeds. Grain in general amounts to 14, and weed and other seeds to 12 per cent. The grain, principally corn, is mostly eaten in winter and early spring, and must be therefore simply waste kernels; only a trifle is consumed in summer and autumn, when it is most plentiful. No trace of sprouting grain was discovered. Clover seed was found in only six stomachs, and but little in each. Seeds of weeds, principally ragweed, barn grass, and smartweed, are eaten from November to April, inclusive, but during the rest of the year are replaced by insects.

Briefly stated, more than half of the meadow lark's food consists of harmful insects; its vegetable food is composed either of noxious weeds or waste grain, and the remainder is made up of useful beetles or neutral insects and spiders. A strong point in the bird's favor is that, although naturally an insect eater, it is able to subsist on vegetable food, and consequently is not forced to migrate in cold weather any farther than is necessary to find ground free from snow. This explains why it remains for the most part in the United States during winter, and moves northward as soon as the snow disappears from its usual haunts.

There is one danger to which the meadow lark is exposed. As its flesh is highly esteemed the bird is often shot for the table, but it is entitled to all possible protection, and to slaughter it for game is the least profitable way to utilize this valuable species.

THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

(_Icterus galbula._)